This morning all the Pundits had assembled in the Mandir
Bhajan Hall for the initial rituals to commence the Veda
Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna. Bhagawan came out at around
half-past seven and proceeded into the Bhajan Hall. Vedic
chants were going on both outside in the Kulwant Hall and
inside the Bhajan Hall by the Pundits. After the preliminary
rituals were completed, the Pundits came outside to commence
the procession to the Poornachandra Hall where the Yajna
Kundam was ready for the Yajnam to begin.

Meanwhile, dear Sai Gita, Swami's pet elephant, decked with
all her favourate ornaments, was waiting in Kulwant Hall for
a pat from Swami. However, Swami decided to Bless her from
the Bhajan Hall itself. As the Pundits assembled outside in
the Kulwant Hall, Sai Gita moved forward to lead the
procession. At 8.30 a.m. the procession to the Poornachandra
Hall began. Thereafter, Swami instructed all the students
and staff also to proceed to the Yajnam venue.

By the time we assembled in the Poornachandra Hall, Swami
was already there and the Pundits had begun their prayers.
The privileged couple - the chief priest and his spouse -
was seated near the Yajna Kundam to make the Yajna
Sankalpam. The Vedam teachers and students were seated
dressed in bright orange Dhotis with cream Angavastram at
the rear of the stage behind the Yajna Kundam. At one end,
Swami was seated in His Chair while at the other end was the
Devi Puja venue. Beside the Vedam students were seated the
other Pundits who perform different forms of worship and
chant different Mantras in parallel with the Yajnam.

The process of creating fire by friction from churning of
two wooden pieces began. Normally every year it used to take
quite some time to generate the fire in this sacred manner.
However, this year, within seconds the fire was generated.
It was taken to Bhagawan, and Swami also waved His Hand over
it along with the Pundit to enable the fire to spread
faster. The Pundit returned to the Yajna Kundam and in a few
seconds the fire burst forth in a spectacular manner for all
to see. There was loud applause and the Yajnam began
formally.

At 9.15 a.m. Swami went inside and the students dispersed to
carry out Grama Seva in Puttaparthi village. In the evening
Swami came out at 4.00 p.m. By 4.20 p.m. He came outside and
sat on the dais. At 4.30 p.m. the proceedings of the
Prashanthi Vidwan Mahasabha began. The first speaker was the
Vice Chancellor Sri Gokak followed by Dr. Deepak Anand and
Dr. Ravi Kumar. By the time all of them completed their
talks it was already 5.50 p.m.

Swami asked for an announcement to be made that as it was
already very late, Swami would speak the next day. But in a
few minutes, Swami signaled for the Discourse table to be
brought. He stood up amidst loud applause and spoke for just
a few minutes and concluded saying that today just by
standing up He gave so much joy to all devotees. Tomorrow He
would give much more joy to all of them.

We will come back to you with details of the next few days
of Dussera celebrations at Prashanti Nilayam.

Today again, the closer villages of Puttaparthi Mandal were
covered in the Seva. The pattern remains the same. The
students and teachers go from house to house and distribute
Puliyora and Laddu as per the number mentioned by them. In
addition to this, each household gets one Sari and one
Dhoti. The response has been very encouraging as usual. The
Sun God has been very kind not to shower his fury on the
students. It's been a pleasant experience serving the
innocent and child-like village folk.

Today, the first lady of Kazakhstan visited Prashanti
Nilayam for a few hours and Bhagawan Blessed the team with
an interview.

Today is again an auspicious day marking the beginning of
this year's Sri Sathya Sai Grama Seva. The Brindavan
students arrived here on 2nd evening. The classes for the
semester concluded on Saturday the 1st of October. Grama
Seva will continue until the 12th of October and will
conclude coinciding with Vijayadasami celebrations at
Prashanti Nilayam.

This year too the village seva is being planned to cover the
more than 150 villages in the three Mandals of Puttaparthi,
Kothacheruvu and Bukkaptanam forming the unit that was
called earlier as Puttaparthi Taluka.

On the evening of the 2nd, white T-shirts and caps were
distributed to all senior students. The T-shirts have the
quote 'Help Ever Hurt Never' printed on the back. On the
3rd, in the evening, Swami sat outside for a while
energizing all of us. He commanded Sri S.V. Giri, the former
Vice-chancellor, to speak a few words on Grama Seva. Sri
Giri Garu is taking a lead role in the organizing of this
Grama Seva. He explained the inner nuances of the Grama Seva
and the spirit in which the Seva must be carried out. Swami
spoke to him from time to time giving him certain points
which he elaborated to all of us.

Today, the villages farthest away in Puttaparthi Mandal were
covered. The outside-in approach is being adopted in every
Mandal. The students begin from the periphery and progress
inwards. Subsequently Bukkapatnam Mandal will be taken up
and finally Kothacheruvu Mandal.

In the evening, as we all settled in the Kulwant Hall, Swami
was inside the interview room. After a while around 4.00
p.m. He came out and sat amidst us on the dais for a long
time. It was a great Darshan. Meanwhile, the doctors in the
General Hospital were eagerly awaiting Swami's visit there
to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Hospital. However, Swami
stayed in the Mandir and Bhajans began.

At that point of time, Dr. Alreja and Dr. Gopinath came to
the Mandir with a rose in their hand to personally invite
Swami to the Hospital. Swami had already entered the Bhajan
Hall. Looking at them, Swami came outside after a few
Bhajans and started talking to them. Around 5.20 p.m. He
signaled to them to go to the Hospital. It was clear that
Swami had consented to Bless them with His visit. After
another Bhajan, Aarti was given while Swami had already left
for the General Hospital.

At the Hospital, Bhagawan was welcomed with group songs by
the staff. After the group songs, a Golden Jubilee Souvenir
Volume was Blessed by Bhagawan. After blessing all the
staff, Swami prepared to leave. Then the doctors pleaded
with Him to bless the food they had prepared for Him, and
again our Lord agreed. After partaking a small quantity of
the Naivedyam offered by them, Bhagawan returned to His car,
moving through the ranks of the staff members who were
trying to give Him letters and submitting their prayers.
Swami admonished some overenthusiastic staff pushing forward
with letters, but once in His car and ready to leave, He
again smiled, waved, blessed all of them, and returned to
His abode by 6.15 pm.